The present invention relates to athletic footwear and, in particular, to a brace and footwear adapted with the brace to resiliently restrain the foot against excessive ankle movement in predetermined axial directions, thereby preventing potential ankle injuries, yet permitting normal movement.
Numerous injuries are sustained annually by participants actively engaged in a variety of sports. Many of such injuries arise from insufficient support to the ankle by way of commercially available shoe constructions. That is, the footwear either provides no support to the ligaments, bone and cartilage structure of the ankle or insufficiently supports the ankle relative to the activity.
With the exception of downhill ski boots and rollerblade boots, essentially all shoes provide a soft-sided exterior shell. Included cushioning and liners protect the foot from abrasion with repeated contact with the walls. The cushioning otherwise does not particularly support the ankle structure or lower calf from undue forces of inversion/eversion, torsion or flexion. Such forces occur with normal foot movement or from unintended stress, such as placed on the ankle in contact sports.
Applicant is aware of various solutions which have been posed to the foregoing deficiencies. However, such solutions have only piecemeal addressed the involved problems, as opposed to taking an integrated approach.
Applicant is particularly aware of U.S. Pat. Nos. 260,069; 1,441,067; 1,549,382; 1,692,896; and 4,719,926 which show various brace assemblies that include multi-sectioned, metal parts. Portions of the braces are pivotally supported to articulate with respect to one another and the shoe. The braces, otherwise, are not fastened to the shoe. The metal braces are also susceptible to failure at the pivot joints and present problems of abrasion and structural fatigue (i.e. bending or fracture) from repeated flexion.
Another device of which Applicant is aware is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,648 which discloses a brace that separately mounts to the foot and includes straps that mount to the shoe, once the braced foot is inserted into the shoe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,743 discloses a shoe that contains formed pockets in the liner for receiving a resin formed ankle brace. The brace extends only the height of the shoe and is restrained only by the normal shoelaces etc.. U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,273 shows a cushioned collar for an externally supported brace of laminated construction. The braces of the latter reference also are intended to be mounted to only one surface of the leg and/or require specially formed shoes.
In contrast to the known art and commercially available shoes, Applicant believes a bilateral system including a pair of polymer braces or an integral brace, which are fastened or retained to the shoe and which are supported to the foot and the lower calf provides a preferable support system to control applied ankle stresses. Such a system also accommodates an after-market mounting to existing athletic shoes or shoes configured to accommodate a subsequent insertion of the brace system.